Competition Bureau Participates in the Creation of an Alberta Law Enforcement Partnership

OTTAWA, September 16, 2003 — Law enforcement agencies have united in the fight against cross-border fraud. The Competition Bureau, along with Alberta Government Services, RCMP "K" Division, the Calgary Police Service, the Edmonton Police Service, the United States Federal Trade Commission and the United States Postal Inspection Services, today announced the creation of the Alberta Partnership Against Cross-Border Fraud.

The purpose of this joint venture is to coordinate law enforcement activities among the parties, identify fraudulent, deceptive and misleading marketing practices with an Alberta connection, facilitate information sharing among the parties and support each other's law enforcement actions against people and companies that engage in various types of deceptive marketing practices.

The Alberta Partnership Against Cross-Border Fraud emphasizes the Competition Bureau's commitment to working with its law enforcement partners through cooperative initiatives such as the Toronto Strategic Partnership, and Projects Colt and Emptor. While the Alberta agreement formalizes this cooperative approach, the Competition Bureau has been working with the partners informally to deal with the enforcement of telemarketing and other deceptive marketing practices in the province of Alberta.

"Partnerships have proven to be effective in combatting deceptive telemarketing and other fraudulent scams that transcend borders," said Raymond Pierce, Deputy Commissioner of Competition. "With this newest partnership, we want to ensure that Alberta does not become a safe-haven for criminal organizations involved in deceptive or fraudulent cross-border scams."

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that promotes and maintains fair competition so that all Canadians can benefit from competitive prices, product choice and quality service. It oversees the application of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Textile Labelling Act and the Precious Metals Marking Act.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Maureen McGrath
Senior Communications Advisor
Communications Branch
(613) 296-2187

For general enquiries, please contact:
Information Centre
Competition Bureau
1-800-348-5358